dj bean

Playoff spot was a given, but another win over Flyers is plenty encouraging

The Bruins clinched a playoff spot Sunday, and the news barely moved the needle. That's the way it should be.

Everyone knows the expectations for this team. They knew what they were when Cam Neely was introduced as president of the organization, and they were reminded of them as Peter Chiarelli made a trio of moves prior to the trade deadline, the biggest of which netted him Tomas Kaberle. If a playoff spot were to come as anything more than a formality, it would likely mean something went wrong along the way.

Instead of celebrating the fact that they’re in the postseason, the Bruins should pat themselves on the back for continuing to prove something they failed to prove last time around: that they can beat the Flyers. While last season’s upset in the playoffs saw a seven-seed upend a six-seed in shocking fashion, the Flyers haven’t been an underdog in any way this year. They’ve been the East’s best team (they lead the conference with 100 points), and the Bruins have been able to take care of them to the tune of a 3-0-1 record in the season series.

With the playoffs so close and the Bruins coming off a big 2-1 victory over the Flyers (recap), it’s only natural for one’s mind to wander to the possibility of the teams meeting again further down the road. Offensively, they might not be as dangerous, but the B’s have handled Philadelphia in the regular season, and they’ve got the advantage in the goaltending department (plus a healthy David Krejci). Puck-heads in Boston would go bonkers for a matchup with the Canadiens in the first round, but you would have to imagine the city would get just as crazy a potential road to the Stanley Cup finals could go through Philadelphia.

SLUMPING SCORERS: ONE UP, ONE DOWN

As good as the top line has been for the Bruins lately, there is definitely cause for concern when some of the guys once depended on hit a slump, especially this time of year. As Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Milan Lucic continued to put up big numbers, a couple of big contributors stalled in Brad Marchand and Michael Ryder. Sunday night saw both players take a turn, though in the case of Ryder, it was not for the better.

Ryder was made a healthy scratch once again Sunday, as he took in the Flyers’ contest from the press box while Marchand took a step toward turning his fortune around. The rookie’s game-winning power play tally was his first goal in 13 games, and finally got him to 20 on the season after sitting on 19 since Feb. 22. Incidentally, his goal in that Calgary game in late February also happened to be of game-winning variety.

Sunday’s strike doesn’t necessarily mean the hot-scoring Marchand of January is back, but those who follow the team closely will remember the last time Marchand went nearly as long without a goal was in the beginning of the season. It took until the ninth game of the season for Marchand to score his first career NHL goal, and few expected the type of production that has followed.

As for Ryder, it will be interesting to see where he can fit in as the playoffs approach. The 30-year-old free-agent-to-be has not scored in his last 11 games, and he has totaled just three shots on goal over his last four contests. One would think the chances of Daniel Paille seeing any time in the playoffs (barring injury) would be slim, and the Bruins have seen what Ryder can do in the postseason (13 points in 11 playoff games in the 2009-10 season). Unless Marchand completely falls off the face of the earth production and effort-wise and returns to the Merlot Line, the guess would have to be that Ryder could actually be a fourth-liner come playoff time. Despite the lack of production, the Chris Kelly line with Tyler Seguin and Rich Peverley has generally been encouraging enough to not break up, at least for now. The final games of the regular season are about getting in gear for the playoffs, but where Ryder ends up in the lineup is a big enough side-story to keep an eye on.

LOOKING AHEAD

With just seven games remaining in the regular season, the Bruins are in good shape to get comfortable having the ice advantage, something they should be able to secure for the playoffs. Of their remaining seven contests, only next Monday’s game against the Rangers and the season finale in New Jersey will be played outside of the friendly confines of TD Garden. The Bruins are a not-so-amazing 18-12-5 in games on their home ice, so they will seek better results when they host teams when it counts next month.

The B’s will get Chicago Tuesday, Toronto and some old friends on Saturday when Blake Wheeler, Mark Stuart and the Thrashers come to town.

Neither Wheeler nor Stuart will get the chance at a long playoff run as they could have had with the Bruins, but the Feb. 18 deal that sent them to Atlanta in exchange for Rich Peverley and Boris Valabik has at least netted them more ice time. Wheeler played had 20 minutes of ice time just twice in his career with the Bruins (once in each of the past two seasons), but since the trade he has played at least 20 minutes in five of his 16 games. Stuart, meanwhile, had a long stretch of healthy scratches towards the end of his stay in Boston, but has played regular minutes for Atlanta.

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